Poverty Pack (Characters)
The Poverty Pack is a union of Golden Megalopolis' leading costumed crime fighters. Established during an investigation of the murder Cookie Brown's''' father', the individual teammates each faced financial hardship and decided it best to utilize their high profile team-up as a ploy to get rich quick. Its often that these schemes always fail, but despite that, they always fight on the side of the law. Their first published appearance was in Poverty Pack #1 (May 2011) in the storyline "'Kneading Dough'". Fictional biography The team first formed during the investigation of '''Chip Napoleon Brown's' murder in his own cookie factory in downtown Golden Megalopolis. The first of the heros to arrive was Brown Wristband, who snuck in through the window, discovering footprints of the possible assailant. Before she could further investigate, she left at the arrival of both Superfluous Sleuth and his robotic partner B.E.E.B.L.E.S. The pair discovered a vast underground assembly station beneath the cookie factory. What was being assembled in that large facility was unclear to the duo. During that time, Black Pigeon had snuck in to the upper main office and began digging through the file cabinets, before he was interrupted by the annoying Street Sweepah. Street Sweepah decided that his tagging-along would be the formation of a formidable crime-fighting unit, much to Pigeon's chagrin. Outside the factory Whistle Man arrived, with a feeling of foul play. Before he could proceed, he was caught between a gang war between the Back Alley Pirates and the Notyosaki Ninjas. With his background coaching College Football, Whistle Man attempted to keep peace between the two warring parties, but a huge brawl broke out anyways, and he left the scene. The only other witness, Super Fabulous Frog, spotted the bloodshed several feet in the air. Rather than putting an end to it, he merely flew on, presumably on the trail of the murderer. Each of the costumed adventurers returned to their homes, dejected by lack of progress, only to find that each of them couldn't continue to solve the case unless they had a viable source of income. It was then that they individually decided that a side job would be the only solution. (see "Kneading Dough" part 1) Founding Members The team's roster is ever-growing, but it's core founding members are: 'Captain Commander' Real Name: Function: Acting Leader A costumed crime "fighter" from the golden age of heroes, Captain Commander is one of the few remaining "legends" of Run Down City. Has no real known powers, but yet is the self-assumed leader of the Poverty Pack. Likes to shout out orders or commands to the group. 'Superfluous Sleuth' Secret Identity: Billy Bookman. Function: Intelligence Billy Bookman was a 14 year old boy still in the first grade. Determined not to repeat another year and be sent back to kindergarten, Billy studied hard for his final exams. It was late May when Billy went to the library to study hard. After school, he went to the local public library to do all the research he could on the basics of addition. Pouring over book after book, he didn’t realize when the staff closed up for the evening. Unfortunately for Billy, it was a Friday night of a holiday weekend. Billy was trapped! With nothing to do to entertain himself, he sat and read books. All of them. By the time the librarians opened the doors on Tuesday morning, Billy had become a genius, absorbing all the information and knowledge stored in every single library book. Thus, turning himself into Superfluous Sleuth! B.E.E.B.L.E.S. A.K.A. - Bookman Enabled Electric Brain Library Educated Sidekick Function: Team Skeptic A robot detective created by Superfluous Sleuth in a fit of boredom of the lack of challenges he faced from his fellow man. However, B.E.E.B.L.E.S. seems to challenge him more than expected. B.E.E.B.L.E.S. is the Watson to Superfluous Sleuth’s Sherlock Holmes. While educated in book knowledge, B.E.E.B.L.E.S. isn’t human so constantly questions the habits of human nature. 'Whistle Man' Alter-Ego: Maurice Masterstroke Function: Strategist A former College football coach, Maurice was jettisoned from his position after several complaints were filed for his abuse towards his team with the piercing sounds of his whistle. Watching his former team make it to the finals without his coaching one evening, Maurice hits the bottle. Drinking himself into a drunken slumber, he awakens the next day, his head now a giant whistle. Pondering the mystery of this transformation, Maurice now believes he was punished for crossing the line and the whistle was a tool intended for fair play and honor of rules. Vowing to never let another cross that line, Maurice uses his ear-piercing abilities and assorted whistle-weapons to uphold justice, and referee civilization as…..WHISTLE MAN! 'Street Sweepah' Alter-Ego: Matthew Federline Marshallsthumb|left|link=File:Sweepah.png Function: Public Relations A high school drop-out by choice, Matthew felt he needed to “keeps it on tha riz-eal” just like his Hip-Hop idols and reject education offered by “The System”. Motivated by the need “to gets paid”. Turning to selling lame mix tapes of his rhymes, Matthew was constantly referred to as the “garbage of tha streetz” by his community. After his father meets a tragic death at the hands of a former hip-hop rival “'Trash-talkah'”, Matthew inherits his fathers’ street cleaner and fights crime on the level of all filth while still honing his wack-ass rhymes, as The Street Sweepah! 'Super FABulous Frog' Function: Heavy Hitter Born in a small lonely pond with hundreds of brothers and sisters, his mother made the misfortune of laying her eggs near a nuclear power plant. The waste and radiation from said plant polluted the pond, killing all the eggs except for SFF, although not super or fabulous yet. He hatched and grew from tadpole to full grown frog in a matter of days instead of weeks, showing much resilience. However, he longed for company, and moved from his nuclear waste pond to the swamp in search of other frogs. However, when there, a local frog catcher came to the swamp and captured SFF along with many other frogs. He was soon thrust into a large jar of formaldehyde. The chemicals mixed with his radioactive blood, causing him to become Super Fabulous Frog. He then broke free of the jar, also setting free his swamp brethren. Using his new powers, he takes out the frog catcher. SFF now takes it upon himself to rid the city of frog catchers and crime! Cookie Brown Alter Ego: ''Corina "Cookie" Brown' Function: 2nd-in-command Growing up as the daughter of a publicly known business man Chip Brown, Corina was exposed to the inner workings of the baking industry. She spent much of her spare time following her father around as he inspected his factory, ensuring that his delicious brand of baked goods passed his standards. She assited him with his front store bakery, where he personally greeted locals and baked fresh batches on the hour, every hour. She knew that one day, he would pass that proud family business on to his only daughter ("The best thing that ever came out of the oven that I made!". The only problem was, Corina couldn't bake to save her life! So when her father unexpectedly met his end, she was even less prepared to take on the family business. Instead of Chip Brown's soft, chewy-gooey chocolate chip cookies, Corina's batch always came out hard like cement. Frustrated, She set out to find justice for her father's killer, the only way she felt she could make him proud. Using her concrete cookies as weapons, she delivers her own flavor of justice. With her chocolate chop! cookies, she is known to the city as Cookie Brown! 'Black Pigeon Alter Ego: Bryce Byrd Function: Espionage / Tracker Growing up idolizing Crime fighters from wealthy cities, Bryce sought to carve a niche in the profession and give Run-Down City it’s first real bona-fide avenger. Unable to secure dignified hero names “Black Bird”, “Brutha Flutter”, and The Flyest Blackman” due to overflooding in the market, Bryce felt dejected and overlooked….much like the ignored pigeons on the highrises. Drawing inspiration from the urban doves, Bryce donned the blanket and cowl of the dirty ghetto fowl. Determined to “shit on the heads of criminals everywhere”, Black Pigeon is born. His closest ally, Street Sweepah, idolizes Black Pigeon, much to his chagrin. In reality, Bryce is secretly envious of Street Sweepah’s public appeal. Brown Wristband' Alter Ego: ''Gidget Florrie Function: Public Aid Gidget Florrie was a social worker working for the welfare department of Run Down City. Working in that field gives her the point of view of trying to support causes. All of them. So all of her extra pay went into as many charities as Gidget could donate to. As a result, she accumulated quite the collection of rubber bracelets. Her collecting soon turned into an obsession, trying to collect as many bracelets possible. Of course, word spread of her collection and charity donations. Many false and fake charities came to her for handouts with promises of unique bracelets. She had acquired bracelets made from cheap and sometimes toxic materials. She soon became sick and terminally ill. When news of this spread to legitimate charities, the call went out to help Gidget. Near death, a mysterious stranger came to her in the hospital. He gave her a very special and magical gift: the Bewitching Brown Band! After placing the wristband over her wrist, her malady was instantly cured. The wristband also gave her incredible athletic abilities and the power to deflect bullets with the band itself! Gidget now uses her powers to fight for justice and the thwarting of fake charities! Expanded Roster The Poverty Pack will occasionally have a reserve team on standby. Normally, these crime fighters are in situations that would make it difficult for them to be dedicated full-time to the Pack's duties. Nonetheless, each brings a specific talent to the team. *Alcheman & Concocter *Willy Johnson *The Stache' *Kid Kazoo *Hu-Mantis *Furry Rabbity & Fuzzy Bunny *Isaiah 2.0 Villains See "Villains of Golden Megalopolis" Gangs See "Gangs of Golden Megalopolis" Citizens of Golden Megalopolis *Chip Napoleon Brown *Mr. Gumb *Ross Marshalls *Simone Gibson *Trey "Trash Talkah" Biggs *Walter Wellfellow